Pokémon Go has quickly become one of my favorite newly released video games of the year. It is an augmented reality free mobile phone game that allows the player to catch Pokémon and walk around in order to get to PokeStops, where the player can collect the items they need to continue catching Pokémon.

Using GPS to track the player’s location, Pokémon Go allows the player to interact with Pokémon in the real world. While catching Pokémon, they each have Combat Power (otherwise known as CP in the game) that you can increase with candy. The higher the CP, the stronger the Pokémon. But the candy can also be used to evolve your Pokémon as long as you have enough of it to do so.

There are also locations where Pokémon Gyms are set up so the player can go and battle other teams in order to take over the Pokémon Gym. In these battles, the player attacks by tapping on their phone screen and dodges by swiping with your finger to the left or right. In order to take over a gym, however, the player has to defeat all of the Pokémon protecting the gym. Once these Pokémon are defeated, your team will be in possession of the gym so you can set up your Pokémon with the highest CP to protect the gym as well as train them to become stronger.

The first picture depicts what the gyms look like on your map. The second picture shows what a Pokémon battle looks like in Pokémon Go. And this last image is what your inventory of the Pokémon you’ve captured looks like.

When going to PokeStops, the player acquires various items to help them continue collecting Pokémon, such as Poke Balls, fruit and eggs. The eggs you get at PokeStops have Pokémon inside them and the only way you can hatch them is by walking a certain amount of kilometers. The larger the number of kilometers the better Pokémon you get. This is one of many features I enjoy about Pokémon Go because the player has to do quite a bit of walking in order to hatch all of their eggs.

As you continue playing, your character levels up and gets different rewards each time. Once you reach level five, you have to choose which team you want to be on before you can battle at Pokémon Gyms. In Pokémon Go there are three teams: Instinct, Mystic and Valor. Choosing a team doesn’t have any bearing on what happens in the game, just allows the player to battle other teams to take over a gym. But each team is uniquely different because the leaders each have a different way of looking at Pokémon.

What I really enjoy about Pokémon Go is that it’s brought one of my childhood dreams to life. As a child, I played a lot of Pokémon games and always dreamed of becoming a trainer. Of getting Pokémon of my own, battling gyms and becoming the best there ever was. And now this game has brought that dream to reality, allowing me and many others to go outside, capture Pokémon and have fun while doing it.

I also enjoy playing Pokémon Go because players have to be physically active in order to play it. While I have been able to catch some Pokémon while at home, if you want to get other types, you actually have to go out to find them. And I think that’s a really cool feature for this game. It gives players who normally aren’t active a chance to explore the world around them while having fun at the same time. I love it because I enjoy walking and it gives me one more reason to want to go outside even when I necessarily don’t feel like it.

But there are a couple of things with this game I don’t particularly like. For one, it’s more of a collecting game than anything else. Unlike its predecessors, the player only battles other Pokémon at the gyms. To me, that’s a little disappointing. I enjoyed in the other Pokémon games I’ve played being able to walk around in tall grass, battling other trainers and Pokémon to level up my team. Instead, we battle other Pokémon in gyms, which isn’t as much fun as previous games. And another issue I have with the game is the amount of bugs. When I first started playing Pokémon Go, there were a lot of issues with the servers going down and the game freezing while I was catching Pokémon. Now, it’s not as much of an issue but when I do have problems, it’s really annoying because it’s always right when I really want to play. However, I also understand Pokémon Go is such a popular game. Almost everyone I know is playing it because it’s been a part of their childhood like it has been mine. So I understand why the problems with the server are happening. Just can’t wait for the issues to stop so I can continue playing.

But despite these issues, Pokémon Go has quickly become one of my favorite games this year. It’s definitely a game I’ll always be playing because it’ll help motivate me to continue walking. But also because Pokémon holds a special place in my heart.